John Huehnergard

In a series of four courses, all Hebrew Bible/Ancient Near East graduate students will read the Hebrew Bible in its entirety, in Hebrew (and the small amount of Aramaic that also appears).  This schedule amounts to approximately 30 pages of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia each week.  In addition, each professor will stress some element of Biblical Hebrew or the Hebrew Bible, e.g.,  historical grammar or syntax. Conducted in English. 

Introduction to the ancient Babylonian-Assyrian language of Hammurabi, Sargon, and Nebuchadnezzar, and to the cuneiform writing system. Akkadian, which is related Arabic and Hebrew, is one of the world's oldest written languages. Students will read some of the thousands of inscriptions that have been discovered, including parts of Hammurabi's famous law code.There are no prerequisites.

Texts

To be determined.

Grading

Completion of assigned exercises each day: 15%5 quizzes on grammar and vocabulary every other Tuesday: 25%Midterm exam in class: 25%Final exam in class: 35%

An overview of the Semitic languages. The course will also include surveys of the grammars and texts of individual Semitic languages, depending on students’ needs and interests.

Hieroglyphs. Cuneiform. The Phoenician alphabet. Two centuries ago these and other scripts could not be read; some of them were not considered writing at all. Today, scholars debate the fine points of ancient Egyptian and Sumerian grammar. They read early Greek in Linear B tablets, ancient Mayan in Mesoamerican glyphs, an unsuspected Indo-European language in curious Anatolian hieroglyphs, and other long-forgotten languages in other scripts, some of them cracked only recently. In this course we will examine several famous and not-so-famous decipherments: how those scripts have been deciphered, their languages decoded, their ancient texts and literatures read once again, and their cultures brought back to life. We will also consider why so many scripts must be deciphered — why some scripts and languages have died out so completely that they have been forgotten. Finally, we will investigate a number of scripts that have not yet been deciphered, such as Etruscan, the Indus Valley script, and the Rongorongo script of Easter Island, and consider why they remain unsolved.

Texts

Andrew Robinson. 2002 (2009). Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts. New York: Thames & Hudson.

Grading: 

50%: Research project (in several stages) and its presentation in class

25%: Participation in class discussions of the weekly topics and readings

15%: Book review (5-7 pages)

10%: Exercises in decipherment

Review of grammar and readings in classical Ethiopic.

Prerequisites

Knowledge of one Semitic language.

Grading

quizzes 25%; midterm 25%; text preparation assignments 50%

Texts

Lambdin, T.O. Introduction to Classical Ethiopic

Review of grammar and readings in classical Ethiopic.

Prerequisites

Knowledge of one Semitic language.

Grading

quizzes 25%; midterm 25%; text preparation assignments 50%

Texts

Lambdin, T.O. Introduction to Classical Ethiopic

Readings in Akkadian. Prerequisite: At least one year of Akkadian.

Texts/Readings

Huehnergard, John. 2011. A Grammar of Akkadian. 3rd edition. Harvard Semitic Studies 45. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

Grading Policy

Class participation 50%; Final research paper 50%

Hieroglyphs. Cuneiform. The Phoenician alphabet. Two centuries ago these and other scripts could not be read; some of them were not considered writing at all. Today, scholars debate the fine points of ancient Egyptian and Sumerian grammar. They read early Greek in Linear B tablets, ancient Mayan in Mesoamerican glyphs, an unsuspected Indo-European language in curious Anatolian hieroglyphs, and other long-forgotten languages in other scripts, some of them cracked only recently. In this course we will examine several famous and not-so-famous decipherments: how those scripts have been deciphered, their languages decoded, their ancient texts and literatures read once again, and their cultures brought back to life. We will also consider why so many scripts must be deciphered — why some scripts and languages have died out so completely that they have been forgotten. Finally, we will investigate a number of scripts that have not yet been deciphered, such as Etruscan, the Indus Valley script, and the Rongorongo script of Easter Island, and consider why they remain unsolved.

Texts

Andrew Robinson. 2002 (2009). Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts. New York: Thames & Hudson.

Grading: 

50%: Research project (in several stages) and its presentation in class

25%: Participation in class discussions of the weekly topics and readings

15%: Book review (5-7 pages)

10%: Exercises in decipherment

Course description: Review of grammar. Readings in texts in several dialects of Akkadian, including literary and historical texts in  the Standard Babylonian dialect.

Requirements: Preparation of assigned texts; class attendance and participation; research paper.

Prerequisite: One full year of Akkadian.

Grading

Preparation of assigned texts and class participation: 60%

Research paper: 40%

Text

Huehnergard, John. 2005. A Grammar of Akkadian, 2nd edition. Harvard Semitic Studies 45. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

Introduction to the ancient Babylonian-Assyrian language of Hammurabi, Sargon, and Nebuchadnezzar, and to the cuneiform writing system. Akkadian, which is related Arabic and Hebrew, is one of the world's oldest written languages. Students will read some of the thousands of inscriptions that have been discovered, including parts of Hammurabi's famous law code.There are no prerequisites.

Texts

To be determined.

GradingCompletion of assigned exercises each day: 15%5 quizzes on grammar and vocabulary every other Tuesday: 25%Midterm exam in class: 25%Final exam in class: 35%

Readings in Akkadian

Prerequisite

At least one year of Akkadian

Grading

Class participation 50%; final research paper 50%

Texts

Huehnergard. A Grammar of Akkadian

Review of grammar and readings in classical Ethiopic.

Prerequisites

Knowledge of one Semitic language.

Grading

quizzes 25%; midterm 25%; text preparation assignments 50%

Texts

Lambdin, T.O. Introduction to Classical Ethiopic

Hieroglyphs. Cuneiform. The Phoenician alphabet. Two centuries ago these and other scripts could not be read; some of them were not considered writing at all. Today, scholars debate the fine points of ancient Egyptian and Sumerian grammar. They read early Greek in Linear B tablets, ancient Mayan in Mesoamerican glyphs, an unsuspected Indo-European language in curious Anatolian hieroglyphs, and other long-forgotten languages in other scripts, some of them cracked only recently. In this course we will examine several famous and not-so-famous decipherments: how those scripts have been deciphered, their languages decoded, their ancient texts and literatures read once again, and their cultures brought back to life. We will also consider why so many scripts must be deciphered — why some scripts and languages have died out so completely that they have been forgotten. Finally, we will investigate a number of scripts that have not yet been deciphered, such as Etruscan, the Indus Valley script, and the Rongorongo script of Easter Island, and consider why they remain unsolved.

Texts

Andrew Robinson. 2002 (2009). Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts. New York: Thames & Hudson.

Grading: 

50%: Research project (in several stages) and its presentation in class

25%: Participation in class discussions of the weekly topics and readings

15%: Book review (5-7 pages)

10%: Exercises in decipherment

Readings in Akkadian.Prerequisite: At least one year of Akkadian.

Texts/Readings

Huehnergard, John. 2011. A Grammar of Akkadian. 3rd edition. Harvard Semitic Studies 45. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

Grading Policy

Class participation 50%; Final research paper 50%

Review of grammar and readings in classical Ethiopic (Ge‘ez).

Texts/Readings

Lambdin, T.O. Introduction to Classical Ethiopic.

Grading Policy

Quizzes 25%; Midterm 25%; Final 50%

Course Description

In a series of four courses, all Hebrew Bible/Ancient Near East graduate students will read the Hebrew Bible in its entirety, in Hebrew (and the small amount of Aramaic that also appears).  This schedule amounts to approximately 30 pages of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia each week.  In addition, each professor will stress some element of Biblical Hebrew or the Hebrew Bible, e.g.,  historical grammar or syntax. Conducted in English. 

Texts

Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia

Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar

Brown-Driver-Briggs, Hebrew-English Lexicon

Joüon-Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew

Bauer-Leander, Historische Grammatik der Hebräischen Sprache des Alten Testaments

Waltke-O'Connor, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

Armstrong-Busby-Carr, A Reader's Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament

Grading & Requirements

Class participation: 50%

Research paper: 50%

Course description: Review of grammar. Readings in texts in several dialects of Akkadian, including literary and historical texts in  the Standard Babylonian dialect.

Requirements: Preparation of assigned texts; class attendance and participation; research paper.

Prerequisite: One full year of Akkadian.

Grading:

Preparation of assigned texts and class participation: 60%

Research paper: 40%

Text:

Huehnergard, John. 2005. A Grammar of Akkadian, 2nd edition. Harvard Semitic Studies 45. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

TBA

Description:

An introduction to the main issues in the historical and comparative grammar of the Semitic languages. The course will begin with an overview of the major Semitic languages, both ancient and modern. Topics in phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon, and dialectology will be considered. Reading for the class will consist of an online course outline and representative journal articles and book chapters. Students will also pursue a research topic, and present their findings in class and in a research paper.

Texts:

Will be available online or at PCL.

Grading:

To be provided by the instructor.

The course will cover the biblical story of the Queen of Sheba’s visit to King Solomon; a brief survey of
ancient Sabean (“Sheba-an”) archaeology and culture; stories about the Queen of Sheba in Jewish,
Christian, and Muslim traditions; the Queen of Sheba and Solomon as the parents of Ethiopia’s first king;
the Queen of Sheba in Western art, literature, music, and film.

Survey of scholarship on the history, archaeology, culture, and languages of the Ancient Near East, from the third millennium BCE to Alexander.

Texts:

Mesopotamia and the Bible, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, The Oxford History of the Biblical World, From an Antique Land: An Introduction to Ancient Near Eastern Literature. See instructor.

Grading:

Class participation: 50%

Research paper and presentation: 50%

Attached file.

Please check back for updates.